There are many things that could make me regret the last three days of pampas tour: I could start with the around 130 moscito bites that Rob has counted on my body after we returned. Or that the camp was flooded, so we had to balance over rafts past the 2 m long "domesticated" aligator to the toilet, if we weren�t so lucky to be borne with equipment to lighten our bladder standing. Or took the chance and kneeled over the porch in the hope that everyone would stay inside. Which they kindly did, when the easily recognizable sizzling sound cut through the dark. Hoping that the desperately lit cigaret in the cornor of my mouth would keep the moscitos away from my hiny, which additionally was soaked in insect repellent that makes plastic give off colour. Or when I lost my complete new contact lense - or how about the fat spider that provocatively crawled over my bed, protesting against the moscito net I thought was my safe hide-away...
But no, none of these things make me regret, that we went on this tour, because the things we have experienced will stay in my memory long after the moscito bites are gone. The group of seven people were sailed via the river to our camp, and already on this trip we saw black monkeys, howler monkeys, and silk monkeys, plus a number of colourful birds: eagles, macaws, fish hunters... All seen from a boat that slowly sled through the dense jungle with the guide Negro telling about everything we saw. We had been denied the opportunity to see aligators, as the water was too high, but already this first day we saw two, of which Negro tried to catch one with his lasso. Notably, Negro misses a piece of his right index finger - a sacrifice from earlier attempts. This time he didn�t succeed, and I think we were all a bit relieved. Later, Negro wanted to show us a place where we might be able to see a lot of animals, but we had to walk through a cloud of moscitos: Long clothes and loads of repellent were required. How bad it was, we didn�t realize untill it was too late, which the over 80 bites on my thighs proove. They even stung through my jeans!!!
The camp was as described, but the two cooks made delicious food and we quickly got used to being guests in Antonia the Aligator�s territory. Negro knew her well and when we saw how shy she was when he tried to feed her, the walk over the rafts to the toilet became a lot easier! On the third day, we spotted another aligator on the other side of the camp, which turned out to be the real Antonia, which Negro could even feed by hand, petting her nose - crazy man!
On the second day we woke up after a warm and uncomfortable night to pouring rain, which did�nt seem to stop any time soon. So we got into our rain proof ponchios and went through overgrown pampas scenery to an area where it should be possible to swim with the pink river dolphins. Soon, they came along, undoubtedly attracted by the sounds from the boat. Most hopped into the water while I and another guy stayed in the boat. The hunched and strikingly pink mammals swam around the boat and the people in the water, and the experience of them seeking contact was very strong, even though they never touched us. Fantastic experience! On the way back the rain had stopped, and the monkeys were active, watching us curiously from their branches. In the distance, we could hear the howler monkeys� deafening territorial howl, which would pronounce doom�s day if you wouldn�t know what it was.
On the third day, we experienced the morning atmosphere on the river, where the silence and the reflection of the jungle in the water called out an emotion, that can best be described as deep, almost longing peace. After another delicious breakfast with pan cakes and scrambled eggs, we headed home, again in the company of dolphins, monkeys, birds and turtles - and the first few of other boats that we had seen at all. Now we are back in Rurrenabaque with loads of new memories of a very, very, beautiful country.
And now the 1.000.000 Dollar question: What�s the capital of Brazil? Answer: Not Rio de Janeiro, but Brasilia - are we the only ones that didn�t check that? We know, because we on the way here to Rurre due to bad weather couldn�t land in Porto Velho and had to travel on with the plane to Brasilia. Here we were put into a NICE hotel with English speaking TV, biiiiiiiig bed (which Rob and I had several jumps in - who would think that we are both over 5 years of age?), and hot shower!!!! I don�t think I ever showered that long! The showers in Brazil can be numbing! So it took us an extra day to get to Bolivia, but at least we can say that we saw the capital, which by the way is not the most charming, probably because it was built during only 3 years in the 60ies.
We took two nights in Guyaramerin on the Bolivian side of the border, before we went on the 16 hour bus ride to Rurre. Pew, it�s a good thing that we didn�t know that we would be sitting in the (especially for my 2,07 m tall boyfriend) narrow bus for almost double that time! We are at the end of the rainy season, and the roads are unpaved, so the worn bus (details: no 4WD, cracks in the wind shield, water in the front light...) was on quite a mission. The toughest trial was when we got hopelessly stuck in mud, and hours were spent on gassing up, digging, and any other imaginable tricks. All tried step by step, instead of using all powers at once. We finally got out, with help from almost all passengers, us inclusive, pulling in a rope. Don�t know if it helped much, but at least it gave us the feeling that we were DOING something!
And as mentioned, we are now in Rurre, Rob is coughing and sneezing a bit, so we have decided not to go further untill the day after tomorrow, Monday. We have decided to fly once again, as the road to high altitude La Paz is called the world�s most dangerous with its muddy hair pin curves and a mean score of one death every three days. And in La Paz we just have to take it slow the forst couple of days so we don�t get altitude sickness...